$10,000 reward in sea lion killings

This dead sea lion with bullet wounds was found on a West Seattle beach on Jan. 23.

By msnbc.com staff

A group best known for fighting off whalers has joined federal investigators looking into the recent killings of sea lions near Seattle, offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.

Another sea lion was found dead over the weekend, adding to seven others found in recent weeks with bullet wounds. A harbor seal was also found dead.

Federal officials planned to examine the latest sea lion on Tuesday to determine if it, too, had been shot.

The latest sea lion found was on the Nisqually River, south of Seattle, as were six of the other sea lions.

"This is a violation of U.S. federal law and the person or persons responsible for these shootings must be apprehended and brought to justice," Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said in announcing the reward late Monday.

Watson, who is on a Sea Shepherd ship off Antarctica pursing Japanese whaling ships, noted that his group has offered rewards in the past, including one that led to the arrest of a man convicted of killing 22 seals in New Zealand.